Kaliwanagan Kay Kristo (May 23, 2017): Christianity Is Against Creativity || JOHN PESEBRE

(Credit: NatGeo)

Question 1: What is the brief statement of the doubt?

Sa isang art exhibit ng kanyang high school classmate na si Lanie, si Marc ay nagtanong kung ano ang mga ginawa niya para maging napakagaling na artist. “Napansin ko na rin yan nung high school tayo, Lanie” bulalas ni Marc, “dahil dun sa mga art competitions. Pero nasurprise ako sa ganda ng obra mo dito. Pano mo ito nahasa?” Sagot ni Lanie, “Kailangan ko muna umalis sa paniniwala sa diyos kasi yun ang laging nakakasira ng creativity.”
Si Marc ay president ng young adult ministry sa church nila. Nabahala siya sa sinabing ito ni Lanie. Totoo ba na ang Christianity ay ayaw sa creativity?

Question 2: Where did this doubt come from?

Provenance. Ang hubog kalimitan ng mga allegation na ganito ay tulad ng sinabi ni Conor Wood sa Patheos.com, “Creativity is a dangerous and wonderful thing. But it’s not always compatible with religion.” Sa isang study ni Stephen J. Dollinger published sa Science Direct, napag aralan niya na,

• among conservatives, religiosity was a common theme. Religiosity was expressed in photos and comments about preparing for the ministry, inspirational quotes, photos of the Bible, a photo of participant and her young daughter dressed for church, and references to family values.…Just one conservative participant made reference to creativity (i.e., poetry) 

If this is true then it is either Christians are against creativity or a culture of non-creativity has unconsciously permeated her

Problem. Isa sa mga problemang naki-create ng objection na ito kung totoo man ito is tulad nung nangyari kay Lanie. She thought that the Christian faith ay opposed sa creativity. Ang creativity ay napakahalagang bagay sa tao at kung pupunta ka sa isang lugar na kaaway ang creativity, eh di wag na lang.

Question 3: What is wrong about this doubt?

Hindi po totoo na ang Christianity ay against creativity.

Question 4: How is it wrong?

Positive Apologetics. By way of affirming what we generally believe as Christians, we should read Exodus 35:30-33

• See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft.

Hindi na rin nakakagulat yang ganyang pagtatalaga ng Diyos dahil kung susuriin mo ang kanyang nilikha, maski tayo na lang muna “For we are” according to Ephesians 2:10,” his workmanship.” Sila Plato na master ng classical Greek language a few centuries before Christ would used the Greek word dito na ginamit ni Paul for a creative poetic work.

Negative Apologetics. To refute the statement na Christianity destroys creativity, may mga fallacies na statement na yan kasi historically na lang we can prove that this is not the case. In doing so, we would be able to show also na maling generalization itong allegation na ito.

All you have to do is to look into the history of art from the inception of Christianity hanggang ngayon. And when I talk about art, I mean hindi lang yun painting at sculpture, but also architecture, music, design and works of artisans.

Si Charles Murray, may isang napakakapal na libro pinamagatang Human Accomplishments, nagsabi,

• Human beings have been most magnificently productive and reached their highest cultural peaks in the times and places where humans have thought most deeply about their place in the universe and been most convinced they have one.

 He concludes this book (the very last paragraph) ng isang anecdote illustrative of the quote above --

• A story is told about the medieval stone masons who carved the gargoyles that adorn the great Gothic cathedrals. Sometimes their creations were positioned high upon the cathedral, hidden behind cornices or otherwise blocked from view, invisible from any vantage point on the ground. They sculpted these gargoyles as carefully as any of the others, even knowing that once the cathedral was completed and the scaffolding was taken down, their work would remain forever unseen by any human eye. It was said that they carved for the eye of God. That, written in a thousand variations, is the story of human accomplishment. 

Question 5: What wrong idea about God is this doubt trying to create?

Simply put, this doubt is trying to suggest that God has no eye for creativity and beauty. Hindi siya concerned sa paglinang ng kakayahan ng tao para sa kanilang creative abilities. Moreover, hindi bahagi sa image of God ang creativity. I guess etong diyos na ganito ang nire reject nung high school classmate ni Marc na si Lanie.

Question 6: What is the Biblical teaching about God that recuperates this wrong idea about God?

Let’s look at Exodus 35:30-33,

• [God] has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft.

This is a good affirmation of God’s creative nature being seen just in the content of His commands.

Question 7: What application can you draw from this correct teaching about God?

With that verse, answer the question, “Who gave the gift?” 2) What were the gifts? 3) What is the purpose of the gifts?

Ask yourself this meditation question: Where do you see yourself using your creativity? Do you like when this happens? Why?

Question 8: What action point can you resolve to do at this point?

Part of sharpening our eye for beauty is reflecting on the beauty of God. Kapag sinabi nating "beauty ng Lord" we talk of beauty there as the sum of all desirable qualities. In your daily devotion most especially in the prayer of adoration, always reflect on the beauty of God as you see it in nature and reading about it in Scripture. What makes the world beautiful and how is this beauty related to the beauty of God?